Slide 5 of 7

Getting instrumented

Two paths to Level 2

PathBest forHow it works
Instrumentation Hub (public preview)Kubernetes environmentsZero-code instrumentation via Grafana Beyla
OpenTelemetry SDKNon-K8s or custom needsAuto-instrumentation libraries added to your app

What is Beyla? A lightweight agent that observes your applications at the operating system level, capturing traces without any code changes. It outputs standard OpenTelemetry data.

Problems solved

ProblemSolution
Instrumenting services takes months of dev workInstrumentation Hub: minutes, no code changes
Don’t know which services lack instrumentationBoth paths show instrumentation gaps.
Vendor lock-in with proprietary agentsOpenTelemetry is industry standard.
Can’t instrument services you don’t controlBeyla captures traces without app changes.

The tradeoff

Instrumentation HubOpenTelemetry SDK
No code changesRequires SDK addition
Kubernetes onlyWorks anywhere
Minutes to first tracesDeployment cycle required

Both paths lead to the same destination

Traces flowing → RED metrics → Service visibility → Level 2 achieved

Script

Application Observability and Knowledge Graph are powerful, but they need trace data to work. How do you get your services instrumented?

There are two paths. If you’re on Kubernetes, Instrumentation Hub is the fast track. It’s currently in public preview. You install Grafana Alloy, and Instrumentation Hub discovers all your services automatically. Pick a service, click enable, and instrumentation deploys automatically. Behind the scenes, Grafana Beyla, a lightweight agent, observes your application at the operating system level and captures traces without touching your code. Minutes to first data.

If you’re not on Kubernetes, or need more control, you use OpenTelemetry SDK. You add auto-instrumentation libraries to your application. They capture traces for common frameworks automatically: HTTP servers, database clients, message queues. It requires a deployment, but works anywhere.

Both paths get you to the same destination: traces flowing to Grafana Cloud, RED metrics for your services, and the visibility you need for Level 2.

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